


Mortal Danger (No, I Don't Hate You)

by AliceMayWrite



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Drama, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24878116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceMayWrite/pseuds/AliceMayWrite
Summary: Ron and Leslie are trapped in the office, but before they can work out their differences, a man with a gun comes into the mix.(The events of "Leslie and Ron" but with more drama.)
Relationships: Leslie Knope & Ron Swanson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	1. Trapped

**Author's Note:**

> Another Leslie and Ron friendship fic as I love the dynamic! This episode is utter perfection as it is, but I really wanted to mess with what would go down if something shady was thrown in.

Ron’s Gryzzlbox presentation was about to begin. He watched as the doors opened, and Tom’s booming voice cut off Leslie’s presentation about… some form of president.  
To be honest, whatever her presentation was about was totally irrelevant.  
It wasn’t like Ron still cared about her- their feud had lasted long enough for him to consider throwing away the carved wooden frame he made for her. He didn’t think about the times when they were close workplace associates- not one bit.  
He watched as Leslie’s face grew angry at the interruption. He expected her to start yelling, but instead her face fell, and she turned and left the podium without another word. Tom and Donna were speaking in booming, charismatic voices, but he wasn’t interested anymore.  
After a minute or two, he hurried away from the stage and into the back room, hoping to find Leslie. After a few minutes of looking, he was met with Tom and Donna, who looked furious.

“What the hell, Ron?” Tom asked in a whiny tone. “You totally abandoned us to do our amazing presentation by ourselves!”  
“You did fine,” Ron replied curtly. Donna looked at him.  
“What’s this about?” she asked him, her squinted eyes trying to see through him.  
Before Ron could reply, then there was April and Andy.  
“Are you looking for Leslie? “April asked in a monotonous voice. “I saw her leave, but I don’t know where she is.”  
“Yeah!” Andy added. “She totally bailed.”  
April rounded on Ron. “By the way, that was a dick move, you guys!”  
“How?!” Tom replied. 

Ben appeared from nowhere, and Ron had to look away from the way he was staring him down.  
“I don’t know where she is, before you say anything,” Ben said, holding his hands up in the air as the entire group turned to stare at him.  
“I think we’ve gotta’ search the building,” Andy shot back immediately, fumbling in his pocket for his sunglasses, one lens of which, Ron noted, had popped out. “We’ll do it Burt Macklin style!”  
Ben sighed loudly. “All I wanted was for the two of you to sign this form, and now you’ve upset my wife and she’s gone.”  
The use of the word upset stung Ron quite badly, but he opted to ignore it.  
“Fine. I’ll sign the form. As soon as we find her.”

***

It took approximately forty minutes to find Leslie Knope, probably ten minutes longer than it would have taken had Andy not been doing forward rolls around every corner.  
Leslie was sitting in the old parks and rec office space. Ron felt a gush of unwanted nostalgia upon entering the room- it reminded him of all the good times, before everything went wrong.  
Leslie was seated at the table, fiddling with her hands. Ben walked in first, and he made a signal for the rest of the guys to stay outside. Ron went to walk away, but Ben fixed him with such a stare that he stayed rooted to the spot, not sure if he should get ready to fight the weedy man.  
Leslie’s eyes were quick to find Ron’s, and she glared at him from where she was seated. She then looked at Ben, and raised her eyebrows in a way that screamed defeat. Ben sighed.

“Honey, I’m so glad we found you.”  
“What’s he doing here?” she replied bitterly. Ron winced, and Ben sighed.  
“I need you to sign this document. Please.”  
For a moment nothing happened, but then Leslie reluctantly signed the paper, all the while looking at Ben as if she had been shot.  
“Ben- he totally took over my presentation! He’s been mean in the past, but this is taking it too far!”  
“You’ve not exactly been an angel either, babe,” Ben was quick to point out. But then he turned to Ron and, while holding out the document, stared him down again. “But I also totally agree with my wife- you are out of order.”  
Ron did nothing for a second, before silently signing the document. 

As soon as he had done so, Ben sprinted towards the door and locked them inside.  
Leslie leaped up, her eyes briefly making contact with Ron’s. Both of them were furious, and they stormed towards the door, where Ben was quickly flanked by the rest of the gang.  
“What is going on?!” Leslie asked. “You can’t leave me in here with this monster!”  
“We’re sick and tired of this!” April yelled back. “You guys are so annoying, I even made voodoo dolls of you and stabbed you with fifty pins, but nothing has happened. Yet.”  
Leslie gave April a quizzical look, but then Ron pounded the glass, making her jump.  
“Let us out immediately!”

***

The gang left them with clear instructions. They were trapped here until eight in the morning, but if they made up before then, they could use the baby monitor to inform them and get let out.  
After the initial shock of the situation, Leslie stormed into what was once her office and shut the door. Ron was left standing in the middle of the room, silently fuming.  
He didn’t want to talk about his feelings- not with anybody. But then he remembered how Leslie had looked when they first found her- she almost looked defeated. That was a harrowing thing to see.  
He turned to see her now, a flurry of movement. He watched her through the window as she paced up and down the small office like a caged animal.  
Ron made a decision and walked over to her office and tapped on the window. Leslie stopped pacing and opened the door a crack.

“I’m not talking to you.” She looked really upset, and Ron felt his gut twist.  
“Clearly. Listen…” he sucked in a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have ruined your presentation.”  
“There’s a lot of things you shouldn’t have done, Ron! I don’t understand why you- you suddenly hated me!”  
“I didn’t hate you!” Ron shot back, his mask slipping slightly. Leslie scowled at him.  
“That’s the only explanation I can think of! And I can prove it to you!”  
Ron watched as Leslie walked back into the tiny office, before wheeling out a gigantic whiteboard, filled with an extensive timeline of events.  
“See for yourself!”

Ron looked at the whiteboard trying to ignore Leslie’s eyes boring into him.  
He had to hand it to her, she had the chronological events correct- and very well presented, but she had no idea why things had gone south between the two of them. And the more he looked, the angrier he got. After a few seconds, he simply said: “You’re wrong,” and sat down on one of the chairs. An unmovable force.  
Leslie, of course, was furious. Thus, proceeded her attempting to work out what the truth was, which included dripping water on his face, as well as covering him in post-it notes. Ron remained as unmoving as a mountain, and Leslie got more and more frustrated.  
She was mid-way through a truly terrible rendition of “We Didn’t Start The Fire” when Ron heard a smash coming from one of the rooms further down the corridor.

“Shut up,” Ron said sternly.  
“Are you kidding?!” Leslie yelled. “I’m on fire!”  
“No- there’s someone here.”  
Ron turned the music off, and Leslie stopped dancing.  
“What?” she asked. “Is this a trick- are you trying to get me to stop dancing?”  
“No- listen.”  
The two of them strained their ears to hear another smash coming from the next room. They looked at each other, and Ron was quick to turn off the lights in the room. The two of them stood there in panic.  
“Are we getting broken in?” Leslie stage whispered. Ron didn’t answer. “I need to call Ben.”

Leslie ran over to grab the baby monitor, but before she could do anything, a masked figure approached from outside the door. They smashed the glass of the door with a fire extinguisher and entered the room.  
Ron moved to stand in front of Leslie, who stared down the person in anger.  
“Andy- is that you?! Are you playing a prank?!”  
The masked figure stood there silently, before pulling out a gun and training it on the two of them.  
“Drop the baby monitor,” a gruff voice said- and it was nobody that Leslie or Ron recognized.  
Leslie dropped it immediately, putting her hands up, and the baby monitor clattered onto the floor. A quick glance by Ron confirmed that it was broken. They were now inside with a man with a gun- and no way to alert their friends.

“Go in there-” the voice said, pointing with their gun towards Leslie’s old office.  
Leslie glanced at Ron, and he nodded slightly. The two of them turned and slowly walked into the office, shutting the door behind them. They watched through the window as the person in the mask whistled, and another masked intruder came in.  
“Guard them,” the guy said. “I’m going to get her.”  
Ron and Leslie stood in the old office, staring at the man who now had a gun trained on them.  
“Ron,” Leslie whispered. “I’m still mad at you- but what the hell are we going to do?”  
“Unclear,” Ron replied. His voice wasn’t even shaking- Leslie wondered if he was even scared. “I doubt the old shotgun I kept in that office is still there, and even if it was, there’s no way we can get to it. We’re trapped”  
“I guess we’ll have to wait,” Leslie said.

The two of them sat there for what felt like hours. Leslie was stressed and afraid, and after a long period of silence, she blurted: “Can you at least tell me why you hate me now? You know, since we might die soon.”  
“No, I don’t hate you,” Ron replied instantly. “I never hated you.”  
“You knocked down Ann’s house,” Leslie shot back. “That was uncalled for.”  
“And I regret that,” Ron admitted. “There are things I did that I regret.”  
Leslie gasped slightly. “What do you mean?”  
Ron then went on to explain- very slowly, and reluctantly, the exact circumstances that led to the two of them falling out. Leslie listened to him and, once he admitted that she had stood him up, she gasped in horror.  
“Ron, I’m so sorry.” Ron shrugged.  
“It was clear my time in government work was over. I do regret what happened afterwards.”  
“I do too,” Leslie replied, reaching out to squeeze his arm. 

They smiled at each other, and Leslie almost forgot that they had been forced into the office against their will by a man with a gun.  
An intense rapping on the window broke the spell, and Leslie jumped out of her skin.  
The two of them turned to see the man with the gun as he opened the door, beckoning for them to exit the room.  
“She’s here,” he said simply.  
“Who’s here?!” Leslie cried out. “Because whoever she is, she’s going to jail!”  
Before anyone else could speak, Ron felt his body turn to ice. He turned to the door, his nostrils alerting him to the unbearable scent of…

“Tammy 2.”


	2. Torn Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tammy 2 has a devious scheme

Leslie turned to stare at Ron in horror. He met her eyes only briefly, and the look communicated more than a sentence could.   
Leslie had no idea if he considered her his friend again, but despite all their arguments, she had never felt more worried for his safety than now. All the other times with Tammy- they were weird, sure, but there had never been a gun involved. Even that time with the axe- Tammy hadn’t succeeded in kidnapping her, and Ron hadn’t been in danger, so it was massively different to this situation.

“Tammy,” Ron spat. “is all this really necessary?”  
“Oh, you know it, big boy,” Tammy replied. “You made Jamm break up with me. And if a pathetic little man can do that, what does that leave me with?”  
“Nobody else to manipulate?” Leslie tried, and the man with the gun trained it on her, making her shrink back a little. Ron scowled.  
“We saved Jamm from a terrible fate. You will go to jail for what you’ve done.”  
Tammy laughed, and it sounded like when you run long nails down a chalkboard. Leslie winced.  
“I couldn’t let you two get away with it. Whatever this is-” she said, pointing between the two of them, “It ends now.”   
Leslie huffed, holding up her hands. “We aren’t a couple- why does everyone think we’re a couple? And for your information, Ron and I weren’t friends until… quite recently.”

Tammy laughed again and snapped her fingers. One of the men walked over and grabbed Leslie’s arm. Ron reached out to stop him, but he held the gun up in a threatening manner. Leslie yelped as she was dragged away from Ron and next to Tammy, the gun now pointed at her.  
“Not friends, Ron? So, you won’t mind if I shoot her?”  
Ron bared his teeth. “Don’t you dare.”  
Leslie squeezed her eyes shut. If she was going to die, at least she was dying in a room filled with neatly stacked paperwork and binders. That was the best she could have hoped for.

“Okay,” Tammy replied slowly, a grin on her face. “I won’t shoot her.”  
Both Leslie and Ron let out a long breath.  
“What do you want, witch?” Ron asked.   
“I want you to marry me,” Tammy said instantly. “This guy here,” she jerked her thumb towards the man stood on her left. “He’s ordained. Marry me here, right now, and I’ll let the scrappy one live.”  
“I’m already married,” Ron shot back, his face impassive.  
“Well, there’s the little matter of leaving them and running away with me. But other than that…”  
As she spoke, she pulled the gun out of the second man’s hands and pushed it directly against Leslie’s stomach. Leslie gasped, not able to speak, and Ron held up his hands.   
“Alright! Alright!”  
Tammy grinned, and Leslie looked at him in horror.  
“This is what we like to hear!” Tammy declared, before turning to the man holding Leslie.  
“Vince- tie her up.”  
Ron watched as Leslie was tied up, seated on one of the chairs. He had one eye on her, and the other on the man who now had the gun, which was pointed directly at him.   
Tammy had left the room to grab “her wedding outfit” and left the two men alone with them.

“Vince!” Leslie was saying. “Come on, man. Why are you doing this?”  
“Do you know how many knocked over bookcases I’ve had to fix in the library thanks to you?” Vince replied. “I’m sick of it.”   
Leslie rolled her eyes. “Are you serious? You were going to shoot me over a library?”   
Vince didn’t reply, and Leslie looked at Ron, her eyes wide. He was about to speak before Tammy returned, donned in a white dominatrix outfit, complete with whip.   
“How do I look, lover?”   
Ron snarled at her in disgust. Tammy chuckled.  
“Oh, I love that colour on you.”  
She turned to Leslie, who was staring her down furiously. “We’re going now. And before you get any ideas about following us…”

Tammy snapped her fingers, and Vince tied a blindfold around Leslie’s eyes. Leslie shouted, but then he was stuffing fabric in her mouth to shut her up.  
Ron roared in anger over the way they were treating her, but then the gun was back on him again.  
“Come on, Ron,” Tammy crooned. “Let’s get married again. Again.”  
Ron considered his options. He could try and fight his way out, but he risked a blind shot being fired, and if it hit Leslie, he would never forgive himself. He had a wife and family now, and there was no way he wanted to abandon them, but he wasn’t going to risk killing his dearest workplace associate. If only it were closer to the morning- if he had backup, it would be easier to get Tammy to stop.   
But he was outnumbered- two burly library men wouldn’t matter, but they had a gun.   
Ron had since removed all of his hidden firearms from the building, so he was utterly outgunned in this situation.

All he could do was follow this insane woman and her two cronies out the door. As he walked, his hands up, he turned to get one last look at Leslie, whose face was turned towards the receding footsteps.   
All this started because they couldn’t get along- but now, they were in danger of death.   
They had lost.


	3. A Shot in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leslie needs to save Ron

Leslie Knope would not stand for this kind of treatment. Things had gotten a little hairy back there, sure, but now that the men with the gun were out of the room, she found that she could think clearly.  
Okay- she was tied up. And Ron had been taken away somewhere, held at gunpoint, to be wed to Tammy 2, the psychotic bitch. And now she was blindfolded and tied up.  
But they had underestimated one thing- just how well she knew the city hall.   
When they left the room, she distinctly heard a squeak of a floorboard, which told her they had headed right. She knew that to the right of this room (about fifteen metres away) was a back staircase that led to the roof. Leslie would bet all the waffles in the world that that was where they’d gone.  
Now she just had to deal with the being tied to a chair part. Luckily for her, she and Ben frequently took part in a “Klingon warrior kidnaps Hillary Clinton” roleplay, so she was getting quite used to freeing herself from restraints. Once that was taken care of, she made quick work of throwing the rope aside and pulling the gag out of her mouth.   
Ugh, now her mouth tasted of scarf.

The first thing she did was run to the hallway and find the payphone. She had been the one to get them installed, all those years ago. While Tom had said it was “pointless boo, everyone has phones!” she was now grateful for it.   
The first thing she did was call the police. It was a short and quite panicked phone call, but she was informed that an officer would be dispatched shortly. Next, she called Ben.  
“Hey Ben!”  
“Leslie?!” he asked in surprise. “How did you-”  
“No time to explain- Tammy 2 is back and she tied me up and took Ron but now I’m free.”  
“What?!”  
“Also she has a gun. Listen I need to go and find Ron, I’ve called the police, but I needed to tell you.”  
“Leslie, stay downstairs.”  
“I can’t, Ben! Ron’s up there with Tammy and I need to make sure he’s alright because he’s my friend! Hello?”   
The line had gone dead- she’d run out of quarters. 

Cursing, Leslie ran back down the hallway. She saw the fire extinguisher by the shattered glass, and hastily picked it up. She was going to have to be armed to win this.  
Was she being totally insane, following them? Surely she needed to confront them- if she could buy enough time, Tammy wouldn’t marry Ron and she could stall them in time for the police to come and take them away.   
These thoughts were swirling around her head as she sprinted up the stairs towards the roof. Once she got halfway, however, she slowed to a creep, listening out for voices.  
As predicted, she heard Tammy’s grating voice echoing from above. The door to the roof was open, and Leslie peeked around the door to see Tammy and Ron stood near the edge, with Vince and the other guy stood in front of them. Ron looked furious, but Tammy looked like she’d just won the lottery. She was there, winding her hair around her fingers, as the guy was giving a speech about the important of marriage. 

“Tammy,” Ron spat. “If you think I’ll let you get away with this-”  
“Oh but I will,” Tammy replied. “And if you resist, I will just have to shoot you, I guess.”  
You’re insane!” Ron replied, aghast.   
“I’m sick of seeing you with another woman- if I can’t have you, nobody can!”  
“If you kill me, I promise you that you will go to prison. And you’ll never find my gold- only I know the location.”  
“It’s not about the gold anymore, Ron. It’s about ownership- and I own you.”  
Leslie’s eyes widened. She had to step in.  
“Hey Tammy!”

Tammy and Ron turned to see Leslie stood in the doorway, armed with the fire extinguisher. Ron looked at her in surprise, while Tammy rolled her eyes and groaned.  
“Are you kidding? How did you get out of- you know what, never mind. Vince!”  
She snapped her fingers and Vince moved around them to grab Leslie. Leslie pointed the fire extinguisher towards him angrily.  
“No way. I’ve called the police- they’ll be here any minute. I told them everything- if you want any chance of escape, you’d better run.” Tammy groaned again.  
“Leslie, you’ve already lost. I can just kill you both and be done with it.”  
“But then the police will just know exactly what happened!” Leslie shot back. “And look up there- a security camera! If you kill us now, you’ll be caught.”

“I’ll disappear,” Tammy replied. “Do you think Ron’s the only one who can have a cabin in the middle of nowhere? You’re an idiot if you think you can win this.”  
Leslie looked at Ron, whose eyes widened slightly, giving her a slight nod. Vince was still near her, but the one with the gun was next to Ron. Thinking fast, Leslie threw the fire extinguisher to Ron, who immediately knocked the man in the face, spraying him for good measure. He then picked up the gun and trained it on Tammy who yelled in anger.  
Vince ran at Leslie, but then Ron was spraying him too. Leslie took his momentary blindness to kick him in the face, and he was down.  
The three of them stood there, panting. And then Tammy was laughing.

“Well played. You make a good pair.”  
“Not in a couple sense,” Leslie interjected. “Just to again, clarify.”  
Ron rolled his eyes. “Not now.”  
“But you didn’t anticipate one thing,” Tammy added.   
“What’s that?” Ron asked, the gun still pointing at Tammy.   
“I have a second gun that I keep in my fanny pack.”  
Tammy quickly produced a second gun from her underwear, making both Leslie and Ron groan in horror.

“Do you know what a fanny pack is?!” Leslie shouted. “Because that’s not it!”  
“Shut up!” Tammy yelled. “If Ron won’t marry me, then at least I can ruin everything for him!”  
She turned the gun on Ron, and the two were in an odd standoff. Leslie gasped in panic. Surely the police, and Ben for that matter, would be here soon?  
“Don’t do it Tammy,” Ron warned. “We’ve been here before- we both know I’m the better shot.”  
“You’re right, Ron,” Tammy said in a snide voice. Leslie heard a yell from downstairs- the police were coming. She let out a slight sigh of relief.   
“They’re coming, Tammy,” Leslie warned. “Give up now.”  
“Alright,” Tammy said, losing the stance slightly. “But I can still do some damage!”

Tammy turned and pointed the gun at Leslie, and then there was a loud bang, louder than anything Leslie had ever heard- aside from Tom’s singing.   
She felt a cacophony of pain erupting from her leg, and she fell to the floor with a yell.   
And then Ron was yelling too, and he grabbed Tammy and put her in a headlock.   
From the floor, clutching her leg, Leslie watched as the police ran onto the roof, quickly grabbing Tammy and detaining the men.   
And then Ron was kneeling beside her, his eyes wide.   
“Argh-” Leslie said weakly. “I didn’t expect that.”  
“You’ll be fine,” Ron said gruffly, putting pressure on the wound.”  
“I hope so,” she replied through gritted teeth. “I like this leg.”  
“You saved me, Knope,” stated Ron, his voice still hard as nails.   
“That’s what friends are for,” Leslie said as she tried to smile, but the pain was really bad now. She thought about her kids- and she thought about...  
“LESLIE!”   
Ben was there now, crouching beside her. He was talking to Ron in a loud voice, but Leslie couldn’t concentrate on it anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the pain.


	4. People Are Idiots, Ron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leslie didn't die!

Leslie’s eyes opened groggily. The first thing she became aware of was a sterile white room, and the irritating beep of a heart monitor beside her. It was dark outside.   
The next thing she saw was her husband’s face directly in her line of vision- and then they were kissing.  
“Oh, Leslie,” Ben said, his voice full of emotion. “Thank god you’re awake.”  
“Ugh,” she groaned as he helped her sit up. “What happened? The last thing I remember is the ambulance.”  
And that was a weird memory. Ron and Ben both sat next to her, their faces white with worry. She remembered telling them not to be concerned, but that was the last thing she could recall, so she assumed that they had done a lot of worrying in the meantime.   
“Yeah, that happened,” Ben stated matter-of-factly. “Luckily, Tammy didn’t hit anything vital- Ron was quick to inform me of that when I found you guys.”  
“What happened to Tammy?” Leslie asked, confused.  
“She’s in custody with her two library accomplices,” Ben replied. “Andy was the one who grabbed them. Oh, sorry- Burt Macklin.”   
Leslie’s eyes widened- she had thought it was a police officer who took them down, but the fact that it was Burt Macklin made it a much better story.  
Ben leaned forwards and took her hand, kissing it.

“Are the kids okay?” she asked. Ben nodded quickly.  
“They’re fine- Donna has them. April and Andy are headed there now to take the next shift.”   
Leslie nodded, and suddenly it was all sinking in. She had done a crazy thing- sure, she had saved Ron, but she nearly died.   
She looked at her husband, and he looked so broken that Leslie’s face crumpled at the sight of him.  
“I’m so sorry,” she cried, feeling the tears come out. “In the moment I was so full of adrenaline and I wanted to help Ron- I didn’t even think about what would happen if I was injured- how you or the kids would feel.”  
“I’m just glad you’re alive,” Ben promised. “Even though I don’t think I’ve ever been more afraid in my life.” She shook her head.  
“No- I promise that I’ll never do anything like that again. Not just because it hurt like a bitch, but because it was totally reckless.”  
Ben leaned forward and squeezed her hand. “If it makes you feel any better, April thinks you’re really cool,” he said drily. “She said- and I quote, ‘I think I finally like her now.’”  
Leslie laughed, and then she was kissing Ben again.  
“You did a Leslie Knope thing,” Ben added. “You saved the day.”  
“I nearly died too,” Leslie said with a laugh. Ben shuddered.  
“I’m still processing that,” Ben admitted. “But from what Ron said, you really did come at the right time. It seems like Tammy really did plan to just kill Ron if he tried to resist, and he’s a father too. You didn’t know about the extra gun, so how would you know that you were in danger?”  
Ben made sense, but Leslie still felt immensely guilty.   
“I’m sorry.” She could feel the tears coming again, and Ben leaned over to kiss her forehead.  
“Just rest up, babe,” he mumbled as her eyes closed. “You’re okay. Everything’s okay.”

***

Leslie woke up again. She didn’t know how long it had been, but the sun was now streaming in through the blinds. Leslie turned her head to see Ann sitting by her side.   
“Hey!” Ann said, smiling at her through teary eyes.  
“Ann!” Leslie yelled, and moved to hug her, but she had to pull back when she felt an intense pain shooting up her body. Leslie gasped in pain, and Ann winced, moving to put her hand on her shoulder.  
“Hey, take it easy,” Ann said gently.   
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Leslie said as she sat back.  
“Well, I had to see you!” Ann replied. “I can’t believe it, how are you doing?”  
“I don’t know, Ann,” Leslie said honestly. “I can’t believe what I did, I mean… I’m a mother, and I did something… insane.”  
“Oh, Leslie. It must have been terrifying.”  
“It was,” Leslie said slowly. “But Ron and I are friends again at least.”  
“That’s great,” Ann said happily, a smile on her face. “It’s been too long since he smashed my old house to pieces. You can move forwards.”  
“Wait... Where is Ron? Is he okay?”  
“He’s fine,” Ann promised. “He’s here- or he was. I heard him say, and I quote, 'I'm off to find some decent food instead of this garbage.’” They laughed quietly.  
“Is he actually okay?” Leslie asked. “I… I don’t know how to speak to him.”

Ann looked away, fiddling with her sleeve nervously. Leslie’s eyes narrowed, and Ann sighed.  
“He’s been acting weird,” she admitted. “What with everything that’s going on… I think he’s had a lot to process.” Leslie looked down, mouth open, and Ann hurried to add- “Ben’s with him, they’re talking it through. They’re okay.”  
There was a soft knock at the door. The women turned to see Ben sticking his head in hesitantly. When he saw that Leslie was awake, his face brightened up considerably.  
“Hey honey!”  
“Ben!” Leslie exclaimed, a grin spreading on her face.   
Ben pushed the door back to reveal Ron, who was armed with a box from the instantly recognisable JJ’s Diner. The two of them came into the room, and stood there a little awkwardly, before Ben signaled to Ann that they should leave.  
Ann stood, stopping to kiss Leslie on the cheek, but then the two of them had gone without a word, leaving Ron and Leslie alone.   
The stoic man came and sat beside her bed silently, presenting the waffles to her like some kind of peace offering. Leslie smiled at him.

“Breakfast food is the best thing to help me recover from a gunshot wound,” she said good-humouredly. Ron raised an eyebrow.  
“I’m starting to think if I had done this much sooner, none of the past two years would have happened.”  
The two chuckled, and then Ron sighed.  
“I’m very glad to see you’re doing okay,” he said firmly. “I am not one to shy away from the truth, and I have to admit that I was… scared.”  
“Hey,” Leslie murmured. “It’s okay. I was scared too.”  
“I didn’t know if I would survive, and it got me to thinking about how stupid this whole argument has been.”  
“Me too,” Leslie said with a small sigh of relief. “I’m so glad we can put it behind us.”  
Ron patted her arm.  
“Ben was telling me about what you said downstairs. About how you thought it was reckless.”  
Leslie’s eyes widened, and Ron hastened to continue. “He doesn’t blame you. Yes, it was reckless, but you potentially saved my life. And I will always be grateful for that. I just… I can’t believe it’s put you in the hospital. I don’t know how to repay you.”  
“Repay?” Leslie scoffed. “Ron. We’re friends. I know you’d do the same for me.”

The two smiled at each other. Sure, right now she hurt like hell and was in the hospital, but Leslie knew that in the future, things would be okay.   
Ron leaned over and, to her surprise, wrapped his arms around her in a hug.  
“I know that your children think the world of you,” he promised. “I may not have seen much of them over the past few years. That’s going to change.”  
“I’d love that,” Leslie said with a sigh of relief. “It’s really been too long.”  
She could feel the tears coming, and Ron let her go, smiling.  
“I’ve got to eat these waffles now,” Leslie said with a grin. She opened the box, welcoming the familiar smell. It smelt like success- like joy. Waffles truly were the epitome of foods.  
“Here,” Leslie said, handing Ron one of the two.   
“Many thanks.” Ron accepted the waffle.  
“Why would anyone eat anything other than breakfast food?” Ron asked as he took a bite.  
“People are idiots, Ron.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anybody has any ideas for a fic then please let me know!! :)


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